Shares across Europe fell 5.8pc last month. Markets in London and the US were closed yesterday, but shares in continental Europe shook off the cut to Spain's credit rating on Friday, with stock markets rising 0.3pc.

Bond markets also largely took Spain’s downgrade in their stride. The spread between Spanish government debt and German government debt widened by seven basis points to 164 basis points, but analysts do not expect the gap to widen much further when UK and US markets re-open today.

Spain has found itself in the spotlight of investor concern over its sovereign debt, after a bailout of Greece was agreed last month.

Ratings agency Fitch stripped the indebted nation of the top AAA credit rating on Friday after the markets closed. The downgrade to AA+ followed Standard & Poor’s decision to downgrade Spain in April to AA with a negative outlook. Spain has pushed through an austerity package and risks a wave of strikes in opposition to labour market reforms.